Aberto The Harlequin
by Indiana Swede
Summary: His name is Aberto and he is a comedy performer. Throughout his life he has performed as the harlequin . He does this because of the gratitude he has towards his foster family, the commedia troupe who found him and adopted him when he had been orphaned at a young age. However, he has now been stricken by cupid's arrow. He'll need... "flexible" companions on his quest for love.


**Author's Note: This takes place in the world of Octopath Traveler. This story does contain references to the theater form known as Commedia Dell'Arte, which is a renaissance era comedic theater tradition which uses masks, improvisation, and recurring characters. Read up about it before you read if you want to.**

_**20 years ago…**_

The bare wet trees loomed ominously over the muddy path, encased in fog. As the clouds above grew darker and occasionally roared with thunder, heavy raindrops descended in waves, creating an aggressive pitter-pattering sound as it did. As the dirt absorbed the water and came closer to the consistency of a marsh, a fox ducked into its burrow to avoid the heavy rainfall. It would be in there for a long, long time.

In weather like this, most travelers would probably delay their travel plans for a day. But for the Caramanicas, they had deadlines to meet, places to perform and the stubbornness of their director, Marco Caramanica, to deal with. So here they were, traveling in their cart through the muddy forest, hoping that the rain would stop soon and, if that didn't happen, that their flimsy rain cover would hold for the duration. It was essential that the prop and costume boxes remained as dry as possible, and no one wanted to be rained on. However, Marco wasn't worried about the latter. After all, he was already getting rained on as he was in the driver's seat of the wagon.

Marco's gaunt and wiry body momentarily shivered as he directed his horses, Lucky and Panini, to navigate the forest. The rain had seemed less unpleasant when he looked out the window of the inn in Bolderfall that morning, but now that he was in the thick of it, he could confirm that it was like having water poured by the bucket load onto his face. His dark brown hair, slick with rain, hung irritatingly in front of his green eyes. Furthermore, having a large crooked nose, which was a divine blessing for when he played Pantalone, was a bit of a curse in this scenario, as the tip of his nose had water running off it like a fountain. Fortunately, he did get a nice traveling cloak that could keep the rain off of him while he drove the cart, so hopefully he may not need to visit a medicine man. Still, he made a mental note that he should seek out an apothecary as soon as he got to Victor's Hollow. The last thing a crooked nosed actor and director like himself should have is a cold.

An older gentleman of portly stature opened a bit of the rain cover from the inside, careful as to avoid too much rain from coming in. His name was Lucio Bertini and he often played Il Dottore, or the doctor. He was one of the few remaining founders of the Carmanica troupe, and a close friend of Marco. He wasn't very appropriately dressed for the rain, hence why he had opted to stay inside instead of sitting next to his friend as he usually did. "Marco, are you sure this was a wise decision?" Asked Lucio, "Travel in this sort of weather is not just difficult, you know. It's bad for your health. And especially with a nose like yours…"

"Save the intellectual superiority for when we're on stage Lucio," Marco retorted half-seriously, "I have to concentrate on the road right now. I don't want our wagon to tip over, especially with all this mud."

Gaia Caramanica, the other remaining founder and the red-headed, green eyed sister of Marco was sitting next to Lucio. She played as Isabella, one of the lovers. "As your sibling, I think I need to remind you that no man is immune to the cold, Marco."

"Although, if there was a man who was, it would be the Directore. He's so stubborn and tough, he could simply scare any malady away!" joked a young blond man wearing a wide brimmed hat. Anton Andrei, or Anton as he was called, was a newer member of the troupe and would play as El Capitano. He was a bit hyperactive and enjoyed cracking jokes at the expense of others. However, he always meant it in good taste. "And yet I haven't managed to send you fleeing into the hills…" Marco replied with fake joking sarcasm.

Casilda Turano, another new member of the troupe who would play Colombina, quickly got out her notebook. "That's a brilliant comeback Directore! I should remember this when we do our next performance!" A sudden squeal of excitement came from the black-haired, blue eyed woman as she scribbled away into her notebook. "That's a brilliant idea!" exclaimed Anton, a bit over-eager for someone who had just been insulted.

Suddenly, one of the prop boxes opened up, as Nico Coffaro, a large, bald, ugly man with beady black eyes who played Punchinella, emerged momentarily. He often had a bit of a temper, but he was a brilliant actor, and his ability to turn mimic voices was almost legendary. "Keep it down! I'm trying to sleep here!". The Pot-bellied pajama wearer then proceeded to close the box.

Fortunately, Romero Caramanica, the last member of the troupe and Gaia's husband managed to make sure that Nico had some way to breath in his sleep. Despite being a part of the troupe longer than Anton and Casilda, he was still a little insecure, even though he was rather talented. Perhaps that's why he would still play Flavio, the other lover. "Well," he muttered quietly, "I suppose that's one good thing from Tarquin's departure…"

The troupe fell silent at the reminder that their harlequin, Tarquin, had left the troupe yesterday. Eventually, Gaia broke the silence. "Why did he leave Marco?"

"Same reason as the others I bet!" Nico sneered from inside his box, before mimicking the strangely loopy yet elitist way that Tarquin spoke, "Oh I just can't take it! The role is just too much for me! I might go insane!"

"Easy Nico…" Marco gave a sideways glare for a moment, "I bet you'd say the same if you played that role." Nico grumbled incoherently to himself before somehow beginning to snore. Lucio sighed, "Well, I suppose we should have seen it coming. All harlequin's eventually leave us, don't they?"

"Aye," agreed Marco, "Either because they get exhausted or their own chaotic whims carry them to wherever they desire."

Anton cleared his throat in anticipation, "Maybe I could be the Harlequin?"

Marco thought a bit about the proposition before he responded, "You're a bit too green for it, Anton. Wait a couple years and perhaps then you can be Harlequin."

"Awww come on!" Anton whined, "I got the energy and the sass! I could pull it off!"

"Don't get me wrong, you're a good performer and when you're the captain, you do it amazingly. I just don't think you are really ready for this. I know that it sounds simple for someone like you, but it demands either some incredible natural skill or training in it right from the get-go. Stick to what you know best, boy. It will take you far and…"

"Hold on…" Romero held out his hand, as if to stop everything that was going around him. The group fell silent. Marco was about to ask Romero why he interrupted him when suddenly he heard it. "What's that noise?" Romero urged "And what is that foul smell…".

Marco quickly stopped the horses. To him, it sounded a lot like crying. "Hold on, I'll be back in a moment." Marco declared before climbing out of his seat and looking around as his feet sank into the mud. He eventually managed to pinpoint where the commotion was coming from; a nearby willow tree, right beside the road. Marco wearily sneaked towards the space beneath the tree, which was covered by it's leaves. He was not a fool; he knew that this could be a trap.

It didn't take long for the rain to begin to let up as Marco entered the space under the willow tree. To his horror, he discovered two corpses, a man and a woman, mauled beyond recognition. The woman was lying on her back on the tree in a sitting position while the man was lying face down towards the front of the clearing. He wasn't sure what had done this to them, but he knew that whatever it was, it must have been big and terrifying based purely on the carnage. He moved further into the clearing to investigate. Upon approaching the man's corpse, he saw that this pair must have been a couple, if the ring on this man's index finger were anything to go by. Perhaps he was trying to protect her?

It was then that Marco heard the sound of crying again, this time from the tree itself. He walked closer to the tree, approaching the woman's corpse. As he suspected, they must have been married, since the woman also had a similar ring on her finger, with the one exception being that it had a small diamond. The crying seemed to come from behind her. Careful as to avoid disrespecting the body too much, he moved her body aside and saw that she had been covering up a tree-hole. Inside of the tree, he saw a basket, covered in blankets and making a small racket. Keeping an eye out for traps or a possible surprise ambush by the creature from behind, he reached into the tree hole and carefully grabbed the basket. Once he had pulled the basket out of the tree, he moved the blanket by an inch, only to see a baby boy inside.

The baby seemed to be crying up a storm which was understandable, considering the circumstance. However, it seemed to calm down slightly when it saw Marco, staring at him with its adorable big brown eyes. It reached out with its tiny hands, trying to grip onto his nose. Marco wasn't really sure what to do, and not just because this baby was trying to grab the part of his face that helped him the most in his career. The baby couldn't just be left in the forest. It could be eaten by a smaller predator, or simply die of cold. And yet, what could a traveling Commedia troupe do? Could they really raise a child?

Marco looked around at the tragic scene around him. Incidents like this had always made the world such a sad place. It was one of the reasons why he began his company, so that he could bring joy to others, even when everything around the audience and him seemed so depressing. He looked back at the infant, now making spit bubbles and dribbling all over the place. This child was already suffering so much worse than Marco ever did, and yet it seemed to be somewhat oblivious of its tragedy.

As he walked back towards the wagon, the entire troupe saw him, carrying the baby in his arms. As the rain finally dispersed, Casilda was the first to respond, "Directore… why are you bearing a child? Don't tell me that it was just left there, all by itself?"

"Unfortunately, that seems to be the case. His parents are no longer a part of this world, most likely because of some savage beast." Marco handed the child up to her, after which the entire troupe gathered around the child. Lucio sat on Nico's box to see the child better, much to the trapped man's chagrin. "Poor baby left all alone…" cooed Casilda.

"We should probably make a detour to S'warki to inform the authorities. They can probably get some people to retrieve the bodies and perhaps dispose of the beast." Romero declared. "While we do that, we should also try to find someone to give him to…"

"Romero!" Gaia backhanded her husband "We can't just leave this child in its time of need!"

Lucio stroked his chin "Besides, what man or woman would or could adopt a random child? Especially now, when winter is soon to come. They may already be struggling to get the food they need for the coming months, and an extra mouth to feed would make things more difficult for them."

"Would you all shut up! I want to come up for air!"

Marco climbed into his seat on the front of the wagon as Lucio got off Nico's box so that he could sit up. Nico glared at Lucio before suddenly catching eyes on the baby, which smiled and reached its hands towards him, doing a grabbing motion as it did.

Nico stared at the baby for an uncomfortable amount of time.

"Don't tell me…" Marco began to intensify his glare,

"that we're gonna just leave this child with some random stranger!" He suddenly turned to Romero.

"Nico, I thought you would understand. How can we raise that child? We're performers! We barely make enough as is!" Snapped Romero.

"More of a reason to try harder than ever before!" jabbed Nico, "Besides, when he grows older, he'll be able to contribute to our performances."

"That's assuming that he'll want to. What if he decides that he wants nothing to do with our craft? What if he resents us for always traveling and dragging him along with us? What if we mess up his childhood because none of us are particularly good at parenting?"

Right then and there, Marco made up his mind. "That's enough, Romero!" He commanded. The wagon fell silent, except for the sounds of the baby giggling as it looked up at Casilda. "This child has seen tragedy most of the people on this continent can't even fathom, so this is what we'll do. We will adopt this child. We'll raise him and teach him all we know, even if it is just stagecraft. We will ensure that his future is filled with success and joy. We may face many trials and tribulations, but we will prevail and we will exceed expectations, just like we do in every one of our performances. Any objections?"

After a short period of silence, Lucio finally spoke up. "Only two, Directore. First of all, he's going to travel with us, he should perform with us too. After we've trained him, of course. Secondly, we should give him a name."

Marco nodded. "Very well. Then we shall call him Aberto. And when he is ready, he shall play Arlecchino. The master of trickery and joy. The Harlequin."

**Hi! My name is Indiana Swede, and this is my first piece of fanfiction, so I decided to do something with Octopath Traveler. I love video games but I am also a bit of a theater nerd, hence why there's a Commedia Dell'Arte group in this story. This is a bit on the dramatic side, but don't worry, the humor and perhaps the romance will start in the next chapter. **


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